New On Disc

September 15, 2005

!BASTARDOS!

Blues Traveler

Vanguard

Blues Traveler has traveled a bumpy road in the last decade, from cultish jam-band to radio darling and back again. After the death of founding bassist Bobby Sheehan, the band has bounced from label to label, trying to rediscover its sound. ``!Bastardos!'' the new album produced by ousted Wilco member Jay Bennett, unveils a rather different sound than the one left behind.

While 1994's ``Four'' established Blues Traveler's familiar middle ground between blues and pop-rock, ``!Bastardos!'' takes the band in 14 different directions. Through nontraditional chord progressions, sweeping soundscapes and diverse instrumentation, the musicians launch mildly avant-garde expositions of Latin, gospel, East Indian and metal influences.

Frontman and lyricist John Popper continues to flex his irony muscles, turning out clever lines like ``Hey, here comes Rubberneck/He never helps but loves a wreck'' and ``That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger 'til it finally kills you all the way.''

Radio-friendly melodies are hard to come by, but that seems to be the point. After spending the better part of their careers exploring their limits as a live act, they are now exploring the limits of the studio. ``!Bastardos!'' demonstrates that the journey is indeed more important than the destination.

-- JASON HAMMERSLA

MAGNETIC NORTH

Rane

Tides Records

Rane made a bold move by releasing three new albums at once in December 2003. They were substantially great records, but it was a lot to sort through. This time, the South Windsor jam band has limited itself to one album with nine songs (one of which is a hidden track) that clock in at a very reasonable 58 minutes.

A seafaring theme carries ``Magnetic North,'' and ocean imagery pops up throughout the record. There's talk of waves and tides on the title track, distant shores on ``What It's For'' and some kind of mysterious sea beast on ``The Shark.''

Rane produced the record itself, and the sound is exquisite. The instruments are perfectly balanced, and there's a glossy sheen to the songs. The title track sparkles with the interplay between electric and acoustic guitars, and the bass line struts imperiously through ``In the Presence of the City.''

As perfect as the record sounds, though, the smooth production sometimes softens the rough edges that can elevate a song from pleasant and interesting to fascinating. ``Magnetic North'' is mostly an agreeable next step for an innovative band, but there are moments when the songs resembles the other rain: It's pretty, but it tends to sound the same.

Trisha Yearwood has been one of Nashville's premier songbirds for nearly 15 years, always distinctive among a crowd of big-voiced wailers for her reliable balance of power and character. Her approach is unchanged on her first album in more than four years. ``Jasper County'' is an assortment of well-chosen tunes that showcase the Georgia native's strengths and survey a variety of stylistic niches.

Yearwood's voice is elegant and rich with emotive spirit -- relaxed but still sufficiently precise to fill out the mellow ``Trying To Love You.'' She gets loose and feisty amid the hammered piano of the rambunctious honky-tonk tune ``Pistol,'' and her clear tone meshes pleasantly with the bright energy of guest Ronnie Dunn alongside the whining pedal steel guitar of ``Try Me.''

Her singing is almost too crisp to smolder with the sizzling electric guitar on ``Sweet Love,'' but the assertiveness with which she handles lyrics serves her well there and on such perky fare as ``Baby Don't You Let Go.'' New challenges are few within such safe territory as the reflective, wistful ``Georgia Rain,'' but her range is wide enough that she travels in a number of interesting directions even when confined to a comfort zone.

-- THOMAS KINTNER

THE INVISIBLE INVASION

The Coral

Deltasonic/Columbia

There are two ways it can go for bands obviously beholden to their influences: slavish imitation and stylish tribute. The Coral chooses stylish on ``The Invisible Invasion,'' the prolific band's fifth album since 2002.

All those releases have sharpened the English group's songwriting and tightened its pyschedelic sound. Atmospheric organ and trebly guitar fills swirl through the songs like dry-ice smoke, resulting in a trippy late-period Doors sound on ``She Sings the Mourning'' and a bright, poppy '60s Neil Diamond vibe on ``In the Morning.''